I'd forgotten this cute little Japanese ear cleaner was nestled amongmy pencils; I'm afraid to stick her in my ear.
James Joyce's whopper epic, Ulysses is waiting for me at my library
branch; I'm in the mood for an epic, but we'll see how far I get,
before I shelve it. (Elizabeth promised me a prize if I finish, hopefully
before Bloomsday.)
This is the last week of winter break for son #2; I am completely
ignoring the five foot iceberg of laundry that has grown on the
landing outside the Batcave.
My hair is in dire need of a trim; I'm starting to remind myself of
Benjamin Franklin. (we resemble dead presidents here at the manor)
The Christmas tree is still up and collecting dust; I think I'll go for
that "Miss Havisham's manor" look in Great Expectations, all I need
now is the wedding dress. (Besides, it's an imposter. I can leave it up
till Ground Hog's Day, if I want.)
So far today, I've had one clementine and one small bowl of
Cheerios; the last of the white chocolate-peppermint covered
pretzels are sending powerful subliminal messages through the
pantry door.
.
Think it's time for a nice big cup of tea to stave off the growlies; the
first week after the holidays is the hardest. Care to join me?
.
xx~~ Wills
.
You do have a lot of courage to read Ulysses as a library book!! I guess you can renew it a few times but still.......good luck. The ear cleaner is fun, and how you knew what it was even funner.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know, I realized that after I ordered it online and saw that it was over 700 pages. I'll probably end up having to get myself a copy. :P
ReplyDeleteOh yes, you are definitely in line for a prize, maybe a good short book. Keep me posted.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like the idea of the Havisham tree -except don't let it get too dry...
So cold and bleak here but such clear bright light.
I had a super birthday which quite overwhelmed my now certifiable old ladyhood!
Re tree -- some of those fake spiderwebs they use at Halloween would be just the thing for a true decorating statement. Just toss over tree and admire.
ReplyDeleteRe Ulysses -- better you than me. I read at it in college but can't say I loved it -- except, of course for the closing Molly Bloom monologue -- and yes I said yes yes.
And I've been munching on the last of the Harry & David dark chocolate moose munch... if I eat much more of it I'll be a moose.
ReplyDeleteHappy laundering and reading. Today is the 12th day of Christmas, it's okay that the tree is still up.
If your computer clock is correct at 3:20 in the afternoon you've only had a clementine a small bowl of Cheerios? No wonder the pretzels are calling you!
ReplyDeleteI recently "read" (listened to the audio version) The Host - Stephenie Meyer non-vampire book. It's 619 pages. If the book is good it just flies. Of course, The Host is no Ulysses!! It required very little thought at all to enjoy...
ReplyDeleteGood luck with Ulysses! I'm with you on the diet. A japanese ear cleaner in each ear will block out the pretzel noises from behind the pantry door...
ReplyDeleteVicki, I got a beautiful book of photos and quotes of Ireland for Christmas. Some of the most elegant were excerpts from Ulysses. Heh-heh, maybe I'll end up just browsing for the most beautiful bits.
ReplyDeleteTina, I KNEW there must be a good use for that little Japanese stick! Yes...yes...you're right...it WORKS!!
ReplyDeleteKathy G, not to worry, I'm certainly not wasting away to practically nothing. If I continued to eat like I have through the holidays, I would be heading toward moosedom, like Christian said, only she's not, she's so tiny.
ReplyDeleteWe read Ulysses in a semester class I took in undergrad school. I love Joyce, but Ulysses was insane. It has about 5 billion footnotes, I think. Bonne chance!
ReplyDeleteAh... Ulysees...
ReplyDeleteWe were students on the occassion of James Joyce's centenary. My friend "Uncle" Sean threw a "Happy Birthday Jimmy" party. This included a crate of Guinness, Guinness cake, and Guinness jelly (never, ever make Guinness jelly!) Preceding the party we had a pub crawl based on "Ulysess," an appropriate pub for each and every chapter, a pint of the black stuff and a whisky chaser at each. Chapter Two was three miles away from Chapter One, while Chapter Three was next door to Chapter One...
Sue, well, that's the beauty of the library. If I end up not liking this baby, I can flip it right back in the returns slot. Although, it might be too thick to fit! :^)
ReplyDeleteUlysees? Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI have almost finished trying to be ready for tomorrow...rolling SE back to Alabama...and yes...will join you for that tea!
ReplyDeleteUlysses...this should be an odyssey! Sorry, I could not resist.
Love the earbunny! As for Ulysses? It'll be a loooong winter, so why not? Once, when reading Anna Karenina,(during the Summer of my Russian Depressives), I jumped up and shouted, "Jump, Anna! Jump!" I mean, enough is enough! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLets just have tea and talk about what we have heard about Ulysses. I can not read those old footnoted volumes anymore. I have done a few lately via audio but not eyeballing them. Let us know how it goes.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Okay, QMM, let's just have tea and chat about reading it. I think I've been talked out of it already!
ReplyDeleteOh, I do hope it is good. That is a lot of time invested. I read classics that I have somehow missed from time to time. One, I won't name because it is so famous and I'm sure many of your readers just loved it, nearly killed me to get through it. The only [profound] thing I got from it was, to paraphrase, you can't teach anyone anything. They have to experience it for themselves. Now, there, I told on myself.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas tree is still up too Willow. I haven't the heart to take it down, as yet!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Star
Clinking teacups across cyberspace....oh, and yes, the soup was divine :>]]
ReplyDeleteWell, about-to-be Miss-Havisham lady -- you still have up till midnight tomorrow night, Twelfth Night, to be sure you have no bad luck in the coming year for not taking Christmas decorations down. No ma'am, it's not just about the tree, even an unreal one!! Who knows what superstition that 12th Night thing is all about -- sounds vaguely pagan and European to me. Although it must have been in Christian times because of the 12 days of Christmas business... hmmmm.
ReplyDeletePS http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/twelfth.htm
ReplyDeleteAll you need to know about Twelfth Night - which they say is tonight; 12th DAY being tomorrow.. oops.
I love the ear cleaner. My friend gave me one. It is not used...LOL.
ReplyDeleteJane, midnight tomorrow night?! Yikes, that doesn't give me much time. Oh, phooey. I'm not superstitious, anyway. But I'm still going to check out that link...just in case.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas tree is still up and gathering dust as well. I did manage to get the other decorations put away in a burst of post holiday activity.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to curl up in my living room under a warm blanket with a table full of good books. Enjoy your read.
Yesterday, first day of the diet, a family member gives me a very large piece of cake - the Walnut Torte my grandmother made on Christmas and Easter. I'm talking nuts and buttercream. Geez. It was delicious.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with Ulysses.
Catherine
I like your description of home. Also like the tea. I have been drinking more, in big mugs, to help me with this persistent cough.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should ALL send you a present if you finish Ulysses! I feel the same way about The Children's Book . . . although it probably doesn't have the same inpenetrable quality. I was just reading about the Slow Book Club at Sotte Voce. he he
ReplyDeleteAs for the pretzels, I "went off" of sweet things for about three days . . . but now I'm in the mood to try out that sugar cookie recipe of yours. So I will join you for a copy of tea -- and I will bring Keats and the cookies.
Starting Ulysses is definitely an early January plunge..does one ever finish it? Please give us bulletins about your progress!
ReplyDeleteEar thingee, hmmm, like a decoration for a bonsai tree!!
Yes, the first week is the hardest. I am no fun to be around. And the arctic blast headed our way is not helping my mood at all.
ReplyDeletewillow i really love 'portrait of the artist as a young man' and 'dubliners'. they tell stories that dance right between this world and the world of ulysses. drinking tea with these books is good. strong black tea with sugar. or jamiesons or bushmills is also good!!! enjoy a peaceful evening at the manor. steven
ReplyDeleteOh, for God's sake, you do not look like Ben Franklin! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI have the growlies right now! I HATE THE GROWLIES!
Hi Willow!
ReplyDeleteI still read you daily, just cut back on commenting as you get sooo many! :)
The ear cleaner is too freaky! Don't stick it in your ear! It is charming sitting in your pencil jar. Keep it there!
Ulysses? Gosh! Too thick for me! Although, you may consider the audio version and listen while driving, cleaning, working... I never considered them until I got this current job, sometimes it's pretty repetitive and an audio book saves the day!
My hair is calling for my hairdresser too. ROOTS are starting to show...
My girls will be going back to school this weekend. I offered to do laundry, call me crazy but I miss there laundry!
My tree is finally down but I decided to keep some decorations up. They make me happy.
Love to You Dear Sweet Willow!
ps...love the new photos!
love your look over here and so sorry i've been away so long - but it is always always such a treat to visit the manor and all its glory! thanks so much for dropping by my little campfires as you do, leaving such wonderful little notes! oh, and love ggrandmother mahala's photo!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you ,in spirit, on the diet, but I'd rather have that japanese thing shoved in my ears or even my eyes than read Joyce!
ReplyDeleteSteven, thanks for your alternate suggestions. I might as well order them from the library, too, while I'm at it, and see which one is the most appealing.
ReplyDeleteOkay, in addition, to Ulysses I just ordered Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, as well as audio books for all three. I'm gonna be in Joyce up to my ears!
ReplyDelete...that's from the library. I didn't buy them!!
ReplyDeleteSome of your comments had me roaring with laughter.
ReplyDeleteyou just reminded me I have to renew my Library card..Good
luck with your reading.
Oh! don't forget that laundry.
yvonne
That is some excellent advice from Steven. I adore the Dubliners!
ReplyDeleteDid you say Ulysses? You are in for a long, long day...
ReplyDeleteI would love to join you, but you are just too far away. Why when we are really trying to eat right everything calls our name? We will be reading the book together. I can't even imagine you looking like Ben Franklin. More like Liz Taylor to me.(Of course in the younger days:)
ReplyDeleteBack again. I forgot to tell you that my daughter and I used to threaten to leave the tree up year round. Think Valentines, Feb. lucky clovers for March, bunnies for Easter...you get it. It certainly would be a conversation piece. Coo coo ka cho.
ReplyDeleteOh - this was another great one, Willow. Love the thought of the dead pres looks! And the ear cleaner? No.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Christmas tree...be of good cheer, because we -- during a one-year stint in our lives when we were renting, in between selling one house and buying another -- had neighbors who in April still had Santa in his sled on the roof.
I say, enjoy it!!!
That may be an ear cleaner... but it doesn't look very happy about it. -J
ReplyDeleteYeah, poor thing doesn't look very happy, come to think of it. Probably because she hasn't cleaned a single ear.
ReplyDeleteWhite chocolate-peppermint covered.....
ReplyDeletepretzels???? I'm shocked. How can pretzels be.. chocolate covered?! Oh, it will take me a while to recover from this!
I would love to join you for tea but after the winter thaw! I don't do snow well. Maybe I'll wait till you finish Ulysses. That might take you until the next season's snowfall!
ReplyDeletew-
ReplyDeleteI think you should tackle Ulysses as a group project--divide the pages amongst your peeps and have them report back with detail--as for tree, I have one too...figure I can leave up till next year --miss the real thing but not the needles every where for months.. hope the elves take care of boy's laundry now that Santa has gone off to Miami for a well deserved rest...best c
YEs, actually I'd like to join you but no epics for me, thanks. I am far too slow a reader to tackle something like that.
ReplyDeleteWillow, ha. You got the double entendre with one cheerio head saying "cheerio" to the other. Glad someone noted that! Hee.
I can see why you haven't used the Japanese ear cleaner. Who wants to clean an ear cleaner! Obviously the Japanese...
ReplyDeleteI'd love to sit and have a cup of tea with you.
ReplyDeleteI have dead roses sitting in a vase that i've had no time to take care of...to many other things to do.
much love
The week after is so hard when you've indulged in just about everything for a month. The tea sounds wonderful - a new favorite is coconut chai tea from Gypsy Tea Company. Love it.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it! I'm leaving for Hawaii in two days and not even the prospect of living in a bathing suit for the next week has curbed my cravings. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteUlysses is hard work, but after Finnegans Wake it seems like a doddle.
ReplyDeleteI have thrown out the store bought sweet goodies/gifts and finished off the home made! Time to get serious about good eating! I SOOOO loved my SWEETS over holiday!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with Ulysses. I have never read it and although a classic...most likely never will. IF you finish, a post/review would be in order!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI do love these random thought posts...
ReplyDeleteYou should limber up for 'Ulysses' with 'Darconville's Cat'.
ReplyDelete"Ulysses" is one of my very favorite books; I've read and re-read it! If you just roll along with it, let it take you where it goes, you can do it! It is truly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLeah, thank you. You are the only one who didn't poo-poo the idea of reading Ulysses. Okay, I'm going to read it.
ReplyDeleteLeah, thank you. You are the only one who didn't poo-poo the idea of reading Ulysses. Okay, I'm going to read it.
ReplyDeletePut the poor pretzels out of their misery and EAT them! Yum yum
ReplyDeleteI have delayed reading 'Ulysses' so far. There it is, sitting on my bookshelf, but I think this is hte year when I will have to save a few weeks (months!) aside, and dive into it, headfirst.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy and if you start before I do, let me know how it goes. :-)
Greetings from London.
Be prepared to extend that library loan period a number of times, unless you find yourself riveted! Very demanding read, but worth it in the end for all kinds of cultural literacy reasons.
ReplyDelete